Motion To Dismiss A Criminal Case - Penal Code 995 PC
After a preliminary hearing in a criminal case, if a defendant is held to answer – meaning the judge finds there are sufficient facts to bind them over into the trial court – meaning that the prosecutor was able to show all the necessary elements of each crime charged at the preliminary hearing – then the defense can file what is called a 995 Motion, under California Penal Code 995, basically making the argument that the judge or magistrate at the preliminary hearing level was wrong in their ruling. They should have dismissed one or all of the counts in the complaint.
This is where it gets a bit confusing because typically, at the preliminary hearing level, the charging document is called the complaint, whereas after the initial hearing – if you're held to answer on certain charges – the new charging document is called the information. So, information and complaints are the same things in a criminal case. However, with this concept of a 995 Motion, you will have to argue to the judge that the magistrate was wrong. They didn't prove all the facts necessary to get me for robbery or burglary. You can say that they didn't even bring any evidence of any elements or to a particular count.
Evidence Showing Innocence
People get a little confused because prosecutors can put on evidence – maybe it's weak, unreliable, or debatable. Then you can bring proof that you're innocent. People are asking why the judge didn't remove it with the 995 Motion. Because that's not the test. If the prosecutors can bring evidence and you can get proof, and if the prosecutor's evidence was believed they could win, the case is going to trial. They will then let a jury decide whether or not you're innocent or guilty of the charges.
These 995 Motions are not usually granted because the standard is so low at the preliminary hearing – all they have to show is a reasonable suspicion that you committed the crimes you're charged with. That's not a very high standard. That's not proving the case beyond a reasonable doubt. You're entitled to that at a jury trial, not a preliminary hearing. So, the concept of a 995 Motion sometimes deceives people. They want to get their case dismissed, but you have to have grounds, facts, and circumstances to win the 995 if you expect to have the chance to do something like that.
Another Use For A 955 Motion To Dismiss
There is another use for the 995 Motion besides trying to get the whole case dismissed: to try to show the prosecutor and the judge weaknesses in the case so that you can try to negotiate a favorable disposition. After the preliminary hearing, the case usually gets sent to another court. Not always, but usually, there's a new prosecutor. The new judge knows very little about the case, so they will not just start picking stuff and reading it. The criminal defense attorney will have to bring things to their attention; otherwise, they're not going to do much, and they're not going to listen to many of your arguments.
So, one tactic I use is to file a 995 Motion to get the case dismissed, but if I don't, the judge and the prosecutors will have to read the preliminary hearing transcript to prepare to deal with a 995 Motion. Then they're going to know what my arguments are. They're going to learn the weaknesses in the prosecution's case, and now the table has been set for me to come in and say, " listen, you're not going to dismiss it, fine, but my client needs a lesser charge.
My client needs a better deal here. They are not going to charge to that charge. She's not going to go to jail or prison. So, it is an excellent tool sometimes. You can't just file a frivolous 995 Motion. Otherwise, you're wasting everybody's time, and they'll get mad at you. But, if there are grounds there – even if you might not be successful – it's a good way to lay the groundwork to try to get the case resolved, get a lesser charge, and fight some of the things that you don't want – and really to show the defendant's side of the story. Hence, it's not just some one-sided account of what happened.
So, a 995 is a very effective tool. If you have a situation where you're considering having your attorney file a 995 after the preliminary hearing, give me a call. We can sit down and discuss it. Whoever the attorney is is going to have to read the preliminary hearing transcript or have done the preliminary hearing to have a good feel for the chances of success for a 995 Motion in one of the Los Angeles courts and whether it really would help set the table to resolve your criminal matter.
